Bruises
by Fadingspirit
Summary: She raised her head and turned her furious, devastated, and distraught gaze on the man she had once called her friend. "This is your fault Albus Dumbledore."


**This came so easily to me that I should probably be worried. I've had this idea for a while but I just never got around to writing it until now, so...here you are.**

 **Author's Note: I didn't know what to name this so...**

...

Minerva McGonagall knew the moment she stepped into the Great Hall that something was wrong. She ignored the knot of nerves that was forming in her stomach and continued like everything was fine but it wasn't. She unrolled her parchment and began calling the names of the first year students and everything was going smoothly until she called out the name that everyone wanted to hear.

"Potter, Harry."

The Hall was silent as students craned their necks, trying to get a look at the famous Harry Potter. After a moment of no movement, the crowd of first years started looking at each other, everyone wondering the same thing, where was Harry Potter?

Minerva turned to look at Albus. There was no twinkle in his eye. He met her eyes and gestured for her to continue and she did but she couldn't ignore the pit of snakes in her stomach.

…

"I'm going to check at the Dursleys." Minerva announced later that night. Albus sighed and Minerva could tell he was annoyed.

"I'm sure he just missed the train or something." He said. Minerva turned her furious gaze on him and clenched her fists.

"Well in the case that he has _simply missed the train or something_ ," she mimicked him. "I will go and make sure he arrives to Hogwarts safely."

Albus opened his mouth to protest but Minerva cut him off by leaving his office. The second she was outside she broke into a run, her shoes clacking on the ground as she rushed through the castle to her office. She reached the room and walked quickly over to her fireplace where she grabbed a handful of floo powder, and climbed into the fireplace. She threw the powder around her and yelled her destination.

Minerva stumbled out of Arabella Figg's fireplace. She quickly dusted off her robes and stood up straight. Arabella rushed into the room and greeted Minerva, smiling.

"I'm sorry but I can't stay long." Minerva said. "I'm going to find Harry Potter."

Arabella's smile dropped. "What do you mean?" she asked, nervously.

"Mr. Potter was not present at his sorting today and is nowhere in the castle. I can only assume he remains with the Dursleys." Minerva explained. Arabella refused to meet her eyes.

"The Dursleys left early this morning." She said. "I thought they were taking Harry to the train station."

"Well, clearly they weren't." Minerva sniffed. She bid goodbye to Arabella and walked briskly down the street to number 4, Privet Drive. When she arrived, she knocked on the door and waited. A few moments later a thin lady with a long neck opened the door. She gasped when she saw Minerva.

"You!" she yelped. "Go away! We don't want your kind here!"

Minerva rolled her eyes. "I'm here to take Mr. Potter to Hogwarts." She said and the lady, who she assumed to be Mrs. Petunia Dursley, began shaking.

Minerva simply pushed past her into the house. It wasn't very big, she noticed, and all the pictures covering the walls were of a rather plump looking boy. As she gazed around, Minerva realized there was no evidence that two children even lived in the house and for a second she wondered if she'd come to the wrong house.

"Where is Mr. Potter's room?" she asked Mrs. Dursley. The muggle pointed a shaking finger at a small door in the wall and raced out of the room. Minerva slowly crept over to the door and pulled at it. It was locked with many bolts. Frowning, she cast a quick alohomora, and yanked open the door. The room was tiny, no bigger than a cupboard, which after a moment, Minerva realized that was exactly what it was. Ignoring the anger that was slowly rising up inside of her, she shuffled into the cupboard and peered around, waiting for her eyes to get used to the darkness.

She pulled her wand out. "Lumos." The room lit up and she smiled softly. Minerva looked around and her smile quickly disappeared. There was writing on the walls and her horror grew with each word.

 _Harry Potter_

 _Y do Aunt Petonya and Uncl Vernon hat me_

 _I hav 13 bruses today_

 _Green lites_

 _Avada kedava_

 _Screem_

 _Im hungry_

 _2 weeks wif no food_

Minerva stared at the walls, shocked. She caught sight of little tally marks and counted up a total of forty. She couldn't help but wonder what they meant. She scooted forwards and noticed some crayons scattered around on the ground under the small cot.

Minerva scoured the room until her eyes came to a rest on a small pile of clothing in the corner of the cupboard. She reached out and to pick up the pile, her eyes widening when she realized it wasn't clothing. A sob escaped her mouth as she rolled the bundle over, revealing the face of a young boy who looked no older than eight or nine. Minerva broke down in sobs as she recognized the face. He was so small and so light. She picked him up and quietly exited the cupboard, her angry green gaze meeting the terrified eyes of Mrs. Dursley.

"I'll be back." She promised. "I'll be back and you'll wish you were never born."

It was out of character but she was so mad. She couldn't believe someone could treat their own blood so cruelly.

She left the house without saying anything else and looked down at the eleven-year-old boy's body once more. His messy black hair was matted with dried blood and his face was covered in bruises. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she turned her face up to the sky.

 _I'm so sorry James and Lily. I'm so, so, so sorry._

She took a few minutes to calm herself down (it didn't work) before she hurriedly walked back to Arabella's and used her fireplace to get back into her office, ignoring the squib completely.

Minerva stepped back into her office and carried Harry's tiny body to Albus's office. As she stood outside, trying to get a grip of herself, she heard voices coming from the other side of the door.

Taking a deep breath, Minerva stepped into the room and pushed past the other professors. She set Harry's body on Albus's desk and turned to face the old man.

"I told you it was a bad idea." She sobbed. "I told you but you didn't listen."

She raised her head and turned her furious, devastated, and distraught gaze on the man she had once called her friend. "This is your fault Albus Dumbledore."

...

 **I really don't have anything to say about this fic except that I was nearly crying while writing it.**

 **~ Fadingspirit**


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